Knew Concepts is well known for their fantastic fret saw (I own one, love it!), but they also make a range of fine metalsmithing and jewelry-making tools and accessories.
Shown above is their mini clamp, an aluminum accessory base that can fit workbench tops 3/4″ to 3″ thick. It has a non-threaded 5/16″ mounting hole for fastening benchtop accessories, such as Knew Concepts’ recent articulating face shields.
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This is a very specialized mounting clamp, but I thought it would be of interest since there are so few products like it out there. I always end up jerry rigging temporary solutions when I need to clamp random accessories of devices to a benchtop. With something like this, I might be convinced to build accessories with 5/16″ attachment points to fit.
The mini clamp can work with Knew Concept’s somewhat recently introduced articulating face shields, which look to have Loc-Line or Loc-Line-like modular hose arms for easy adjustability. The mounting stem looks to be 5/16″ hex stock, which would allow it to fix to the mini clamp without rotating.
Although not inexpensive, I can definitely appreciate the simple and hassle-free way that the mini clamp pairs with Knew Concepts’ new shields to add a little more safety to any spot at the front or side of a benchtop.
There are 3 types of shields available – a basic version, one with LED lights, and one with LED lights and a magnifier.
I would assume that these are all made in the USA.
Price: $40 for the mini clamp, $45 and up for the face shield
More Info(via Knew Concepts)
See Also(Accessories)
In case this is way beyond your interests or needs, which it might be given its specialized origins and usage intent, I have a challenge for you. Think of how you would design your own DIY benchtop accessory clamp, for holding things like face shields, a flashlight, or a 3rd hand for holding small parts. If you have already made something like this, please share the design in our forum!
Josh
I’ve been working with the Harbor Freight magnetic indicator blocks; they’re pretty cheap and they have a tapped hole at the top that accepts an 8mm screw. They’re only good on metal surfaces though.
mike aka Fazzman
As a Machinist I see tons of uses for this,mount it on a lathe to block chips using a larger shield,use it to hold a magnifying glass,or flashlight. there’s a plethora of uses,But i would totally change the clamping mechanism or possibly make a small adaptor so it could mount on one of my mag bases to give it more flexibility.
I would probably swap out the locline too because over time they just dont hold up. mounting an arm from a Noga magbase would be totally ideal and it could hold more.
Dennis
It would be nice if it had some rubber on the parts that clamp to your surface to keep it from getting damaged.
fred
Over on the Community Forum site – I posted this clamp from Foredom as a possible alternative:
http://www.foredom.net/mabc1motorhangerbenchclamp.aspx
I has a rubber/plastic pad – holds rods up to 1/2 inch diameter – works on bench tops up to 2-1/4 inch thick – and has a list price of $16